Finger Lakes winemaker ranked twice in 'Wine Spectator' Top 100 list

Rick Rainey impatiently clicked on his computer keyboard. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

It was 11 a.m. Nov. 20, the date and time that Wine Spectator was to release its annual Top 100 list online. A group had gathered, hopeful that Forge Wine Cellars would make its debut on the list. Rainey co-owns the 5-year-old Finger Lakes winery along with French winemaker-grower Louis Barruol and Justin Boyette, winemaker and co-owner of Hector Wine Company.

They had reason for their optimism. Two Forge Rieslings had received an impressive score of 92 on a 100-point scale in 2017, and its name had also popped up in articles that year.

“It was starting to smell like we could be in the top 100," he said.

The group also was rooting for Barruol to have a good showing for his French winery, Château de Saint Cosme in Gigondas, in the southern Rhône wine region.

Finally the list popped up and Rainey started scrolling from the bottom.

100, 98, 97...

Ranked at 31, he found the Forge Classique Riesling. Thrilled, he kept scrolling, and found Barruol's Château de Saint Cosme 2015 Gigondas at number five.

“We all went nuts and the phone started ringing and texts started blowing up,” Rainey said. "It got really emotional. It was great."

Barruol chimed in from France.

"I can’t even describe how excited he was for Forge," Rainey said. "He was beside himself.”

Barruol, who comes from a 14-generation winemaking tradition, is not the first winemaker to have wines from two countries on the list, but the wines are interesting in how different they are from each other. The Finger Lakes Riesling is a white wine described as having a "rounded feel and layers of creamy yellow apple, white peach and persimmon flavors." The French red wine is made primarily from Grenache grapes, and the magazine called it "brawny," "muscular" and "energetic."

The majority of the wines tasted by the magazine are submitted to the magazine by wineries or importers. Rainey said that Wine Spectator is the only magazine to which he submits samples.

Winnowing down the thousands of wines that Wine Spectator tastes each year to the Top 100 list starts with ratings; it considers wines that have achieved scores of 90 or higher, said James Molesworth, senior editor. Several Finger Lakes wineries met that mark in 2017, including Ravines Wine Cellars, Hermann J. Wiemer, Keuka Lake Vineyards, Domaine LeSeurre, Heart & Hands, Boundary Breaks, Lamoreaux Landing, Silver Thread and Empire Estate.

The list is then whittled by price, availability and excitement. Forge factored into the latter category because it is a relatively new project in an emerging wine region, as well as because of the involvement of Barruol, Molesworth said.

"They are doing things that haven’t been done in the Finger Lakes," Molesworth said. "I think they are showing the region a new path and doing interesting, distinctive stuff.”

The Wine Spectator Top 100 is probably the most recognized list in the industry, said John Fanning, fine wine buyer for Marketview Liquor in Henrietta. The trouble is that customers who want to buy the top wines are often met with frustration. As an example, the store was able to snare just 12 bottles of the top rated wine — a Merlot from Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley, California — and they sold out immediately.

“The Top 100 is kind of a yearbook more than a shopping list," Molesworth explained. It is meant reflect trends and what is exciting from around the world that year. He advises that the best time to purchase wines is as they are reviewed, rather than waiting for the list.

The Finger Lakes region made its debut on the Top 100 list in 2010, when Hermann J. Wiemer was ranked 97 for its 2008 Dry Reserve Riesling. Dry Rieslings from Ravines Wine Cellars have appeared on the list four times since 2011, topping out at a ranking of 33. The 31 ranking for Forge reflects that the region's wines are emerging and improving, Molesworth said.

Since the publication of the list, Forge has sold out of its 2015 Riesling vintage to distributors and the sales of 2016 are brisk. Fanning from Marketview Liquors notes that its sales of Forge wines is up year over year. 

"Many people don’t know who we are," Rainey said. "Maybe more people will know who Forge is.

"What it does for my business is hugely important but what it does for people in my neighborhood is (also) hugely important.”

Forge started making wine in 2012, purchasing grapes from a patchwork of plots, mostly in the southeast side of Seneca Lake. It bought land in Burdett and cleared it in 2015, and started planting vines in 2016. Those vines will start producing in 2018.

Forge started making wines at its own facility last year. It does not have a separate tasting room — it doesn't even have a sign — but visitors find their way to tastings, held by appointment only in a corner of the production facility. Since the Wine Spectator list was published, the winery received an uptick of visitors, some coming from other states.

While some of the wines on the Top 100 list can be hard to find, the 2015 Forge Riesling Finger Lakes Classique could recently be spotted on the shelves at area liquor stores including Marketview Liquor, 1100 Jefferson Road in Henrietta; Whitehouse Liquor & Wine, 650 Hylan Drive in Henrietta; and Lisa's Liquor Barn, 2157 Penfield Road in Penfield. Supplies are limited, though, so it is a good idea to call the stores first.

More:Next Napa? Winemakers see Finger Lakes as land of opportunity

TRACYS@Gannett.com